The University of Islam was established by
Elijah Muhammad. The school was greatly supported by
Clara Muhammad, the wife of Elijah Muhammad and other Mothers of the Nation of Islam, in 1934 in
Detroit,
Michigan and was one of the original institutions of the organization. It was an elementary school that taught "mathematics, astronomy and the general knowledge of civilization." Schools were established in many of the cities where the Nation of Islam had a presence. By 1974 there were 47 University of Islam schools across the country. Some scholars have called the University of Islam schools the nation's first attempts at homeschooling by black families. After his father's death in 1975,
Warith Deen Muhammad transformed the Muhammad University of Islam into the
Clara Muhammad Schools (or simply
Muhammad Schools) replacing the University of Islam founded by his father. The school system is "an association of approximately 75 elementary, secondary, and high schools throughout the United States and the
Caribbean Islands." The schools have been described by Zakiyyah Muhammad of the
American Educational Research Association as "models of Islamic education that are achieving commendable results". ==References==